wwe – Nerdisthttp://nerdist.com
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 02:30:53 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1THE ROCK Reveals His Secret to His Melodic MOANA Toneshttp://nerdist.com/the-rock-reveals-his-secret-to-his-melodic-moana-tones/
Sun, 27 Nov 2016 11:00:54 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=460336From the looks of it, Disney has another hit on its hands with the animated Moana. With songs written by Hamilton’sLin-Manuel Miranda, how could it NOT be successful? Well, maybe if they hadn’t been nicely sung, but that was never likely. Recently, the two stars of the film, Auli’i Cravalho (Moana) and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (Maui), sat down with USA Today, and the Rock let it be known how he prepares his vocal chords for all that singing.

To the surprise of his co-star, Rock revealed that along with the normal vocal ranges he also has a sip of tequila before he starts crooning out songs like “You’re Welcome.” After being in front of thousands and thousands of people in the wrestling ring, it wouldn’t seem like he would need something to take the edge off. However, if he does this before EVERY time he sings, it would definitely explain how completely off the chain his WWE “Rock Concerts” would get, as they would go from family friendly to NSFW fairly quickly.

Based on his performance in the movie, it looks like whatever he really did works since he and the movie are both fantastic. This once again brings about the age-old question, “What CAN’T the Rock do?”

So what do you think? Do you think that tequila adds to the Rock’s singing chops? What should he have tried instead? Will we ever see the Rock as Black Adam? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

Image: Disney

Here’s more on Moana with Lin-Manuel Miranda.

]]>Let WWE Show You How to Become THE ULTIMATE WARRIORhttp://nerdist.com/let-wwe-show-you-how-to-become-the-ultimate-warrior/
Sat, 15 Oct 2016 18:30:52 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=448605If you were a wrestling fan in the ’80s, then the Ultimate Warrior was probably at the top of your favorites list. Before the superhero TV boom of today, the Warrior was the closest thing we had to a superhero come to life, and I remember many a Halloween costume with ripped up jeans, arm tassels, and makeup that would only last an hour before running down kids’ faces. Thanks to the WWE’s YouTube channel, we can do better today, as we now know exactly how to channel the Warrior with 100% accuracy.

Teaming up with Jackie from the WWE makeup team, RAW Superstar Bayley is transformed into the greatest wrestler to ever come out of Parts Unknown. This step-by-step tutorial shows us how the WWE is able to create the Ultimate Warrior’s signature look. Watch to learn what supplies to get, how to apply them, and anyone who is thinking about going as the Warrior for Nerdoween this year is definitely in luck. I am hoping there will be a follow-up tutorial about how to put on the arm tassels without losing all circulation in the extremities.

The Ultimate Warrior was my first favorite wrestler. Now that I know how to put his makeup on the right way, my costume ideas just got a bit more interesting.

This wasn’t the only makeup mashup the WWE has done. Here is New Day member Xavier Woods being turned into the infamous, worm-eating Boogeyman.

So what do you think? Are you prepared to transform yourself into the Ultimate Warrior? What other makeup tutorials would you like to see from WWE? Let me know on Twitter or face the ultimate challenge in the comments below.

Images: WWE

]]>NINJA TURTLES and WWE Combine for Shell-Slammin’ Action Figureshttp://nerdist.com/ninja-turtles-and-wwe-combine-for-shell-slammin-action-figures/
Sun, 09 Oct 2016 18:00:15 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=446771The WWE is full of colorful characters. You have the odd and disturbing Bray Wyatt. Kids adore the earth-born Superman in John Cena. There’s also the embodiment of death itself, the Undertaker. Thanks to a team-up with Playmates, the WWE can now add “Ninja Turtles” to their list of amazing characters.

This November, Playmates will be releasing a line of “Ninja Superstar” figures exclusively at Walmart, in which the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are portraying four of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time.

Here’s Michelangelo as the legendary Macho Man Randy Savage. If you were lucky enough to watch the Macho Man in his heyday, you know that he was every bit as unpredictable against the likes of Hulk Hogan and Ricky Steamboat as Mikey is against Shredder or Krang. He comes with a trash can, a fire extinguisher, and a step ladder.

While Donatello is more of a “brains over brawn” type of turtle, his portrayal of the Undertaker is top notch. I am not sure if the Turtles can even grow facial hair, but Donnie seems to be pulling it off very well. It works out that the Undertaker doesn’t smile at all, because having a huge gap between your two front teeth doesn’t do much for intimidation. He comes with a shovel, a scythe, and the World Heavyweight Championship.

You can check out more pictures of these great figures in the gallery below, which includes Leonardo as John Cena and Raphael as Sting.

Sometimes it’s hard to get a mashup to work. Sometimes it’s a perfect fit. WWE and TMNT are definitely the latter.

So what do you think? What WWE Superstars would you like the Turtles to tackle next? Is a Super Shredder/Diesel figure too on the nose? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

Images: WWE/Playmates

]]>DC Celebrates 75 Years of GREEN ARROWhttp://nerdist.com/dc-celebrates-75-years-of-green-arrow/
Thu, 29 Sep 2016 01:30:23 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=443373Welcome to you mid-week/new comics day edition of Comics Relief! To start things off today, we have a bit of news about the Emerald Archer and his big 75th anniversary over at DC Comics. Read on for all the details.

DC Releases New Promo Image for Green Arrow’s 75th Anniversary

Along with Wonder Woman and Aquaman, this year marks 75 years of publication for Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow. To celebrate, DC Comics has revealed a new piece of promotional art featuring characters from Benjamin Percy and Juan Ferreyra’s current Rebirth run on the series. You can see the new 75th anniversary promo image above.

Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, Green Arrow debuted in More Fun Comics #73 in 1941. When almost every other superhero went away (with the exception of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman) Green Arrow, along with Aquaman, survived the ’50s superhero purge by having adventures in the back of comics like Adventure and the like. Now, he’s become one of DC’s premier heroes and the star of a successful TV series. Not bad for a guy who originally was just “Robin Hood meets Batman” [CBR]

In an interview, current Wonder Woman writer Greg Rucka finally laid to rest something that fans have debated about for years: Wonder Woman’s sexual orientation. After all, she’s dated many male characters, Superman and Steve Trevor among them, but also grew up in an island of only women and never saw a man until adulthood. How can she be totally straight? Well, according to Rucka…she’s not.

In a recent interview with the writer, Rucka says, “An Amazon doesn’t look at another Amazon and say, ‘You’re gay.’ They don’t. The concept doesn’t exist. Now, are we saying Diana has been in love and had relationships with other women? As (artist) Nicola Scott and I approach it, the answer is obviously yes. And it needs to be yes for a number of reasons. But perhaps foremost among them is, if no, then she leaves paradise only because of a potential romantic relationship with Steve [Trevor]. And that diminishes her character. It would hurt the character and take away her heroism.”

Rucka adds “When we talk about agency of characters in 2016, Diana deciding to leave her home forever — which is what she believes she’s doing — if she does that because she’s fallen for a guy, I believe that diminishes her heroism. She doesn’t leave because of Steve. She leaves because she wants to see the world and somebody must go and do this thing. And she has resolved it must be her to make this sacrifice.” For more from Rucka on Wonder Woman, click on the following link for the full interview: [Comicosity]

The description for the series reads, “Angel Season 11 finds Angel being tormented by memories of his past. His visions link his dark past to a Big Bad coming in the future. The goddess Illyria intervenes and assists Angel as he discovers that it might be possible to change the future by traveling back in time to change the past.” Unlike the previous Angel series from Dark Horse, this one won’t co-star the slayer Faith. You can take a look at one of the covers for issue #1 above. [CBR]

Todd McFarlane Does New Venom #1 Cover (Sort Of)

In the last edition of Comics Relief, we mentioned that Marvel’s “1 in 1000 copies” variant cover for the new Venom #1 would have to be a big deal for all the secrecy surrounding it, maybe like having Venom creator Todd McFarlane do it. And we were right! Well, kind of. Turns out, Marvel is using old pencils from McFarlane, pulled from the original debut of Eddie Brock’s Venom back in Amazing Spider-Man #299, then recolored by Richard Isanove.

In an interview about the cover, McFarlane said he doesn’t understand why they are using an old image of his for the cover instead of a new one, but in the same interview says he wouldn’t be able to do it because working for Marvel is competing with his own Image label. Looks like you just gave yourself the answer, Todd. The new Venom #1 hits stores in November. [Comic Book]

Dark Knight III Gets An Extra Issue

Originally solicited at 8 issues, it seems Brian Azzarello and Frank Miller’s epic sequel Dark Knight III: The Master Race has gotten a one issue extension. According to Miller, “Once you dive into the Dark Knight mythology, it’s hard to pull yourself out. Those characters cannot be contained and neither can we.” Azzarello added that “this story turned out to be bigger than the both of us.” The new ninth issue is now scheduled to arrive in Spring 2017. The next issue, Dark Knight III: The Master Race #6, will arrive in stores on October 19. You can check out Jim Lee’s variant cover for the issue above. [IGN]

BOOM! Announces WWE Comic Details

Announced earlier this year, BOOM! Studios has now revealed the release date and further details of their new WWE ongoing title. In November, BOOM! will publish a one-shot titled WWE: Then. Now. Forever, with the ongoing itself debuting in January. Apparently, the title seems to be adapting the fictional storylines from WWE television programming, starting with the dissolution of the group, the Shield, in June 2014. The writer on the book is Dennis Hopeless and Ross Thibodeaux, with art from Eduard Petrovich and Rob Guillory. [Newsarama]

KISS Comes to Dynamite Entertainment with Tons of Variants

They were one of the biggest bands of the ’70s, and still pack stadiums filled with nostalgic baby boomers to this day. They are KISS, and they are coming back to the world of comics via Dynamite Entertainment. The new series is coming from the creative team of Amy Chu and Kewber Baal, and is set to hit in October. You can see the multitude of variant covers for the first issue in our gallery below. [Comics Beat]

]]>How XAVIER WOODS Should Have Become WWE’S DARTH VADERhttp://nerdist.com/how-xavier-woods-should-have-become-wwes-darth-vader/
Sat, 20 Aug 2016 16:30:15 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=431449Between SummerSlam on August 21st and the overall love for the recent Rogue One trailers, now is a great time to be either a wrestling or a Star Wars fan. Well what if I were to tell you that this past summer the WWE teased that it was going to COMBINE those fandoms? It came very close, and I’ll explain how they did, as well as what they could have done to turn one of the most popular superstars into their own version of Darth Vader.

Before separating all of the wrestlers into two separate groups—those on RAW and those on Smackdown—the WWE had a storyline featuring its current World Tag Team Champions the New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods) feuding with the Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, and Braun Strowman). What could have been a classic tale of good vs. evil (which would have been great in its own right thanks to the talents of all six superstars), almost turned into a story of doubt, corruption, and a fall from grace. This storyline starred Xavier Woods in the Anakin Skywalker role and had it continued, could have told the story of his turn to the dark side much better than Revenge of the Sith ever did.

The New Day represents the Jedi, or the “light” side of the Force (I put “light” in quotes because they never really gave the Jedi side of the Force an official name). From their bright colored outfits to their hilarious promos and the unicorn horns they and all their fans wear, the New Day is all about the “Power of Positivity” and keeping things fun as best they can.

On the other side of the spectrum stands the Wyatt Family. Led by Bray Wyatt, this cult-like group has been a dominant force in the WWE since 2012. Their promos always talk of how the heroes of WWE have pulled the wool over the eyes of the WWE Universe, and that the REAL world is a far more cruel, corrupt place. Bray Wyatt has made it his mission since his debut to cleanse WWE of these so-called heroes to show fans the world for the harsh place it truly is.

It was only a matter of time before these two representations of light and dark met face to face. It took place on June 20th, 2016 and started off as any normal “good guys vs. bad guys” promo segment, with each group trying to out-insult the other (Yes, I understand that Jedi don’t go around insulting people. It’s a GREAT analogy, not a PERFECT one. Work with me, people). However, part way through the segment Xavier Woods dropped the goofy demeanor and started staring at the Wyatt Family. He even slowly started walking towards the ring before Kofi and Big E. snapped him out of it. There was something going on that had entranced Xavier, and you could tell it did not go unnoticed by Bray.

The following week on RAW, the New Day came out dressed like the Wyatt family, to poke fun at them by mocking their entrance and their mannerisms. You could tell through the whole segment that something was bothering Xavier Woods because he wasn’t as goofy as usual. While his teammates brushed it off, Bray Wyatt did not. He saw fear in Xavier Woods and started his plan to exploit it.

Bray Wyatt then invited the New Day to come to the Wyatt Family compound for a confrontation, but on the Wyatt Family’s terms. Kofi and Big E quickly accepted even though they knew they were walking into a trap. To them, the “Power of Positivity” could withstand anything, even Bray Wyatt, the self-proclaimed “Eater of Worlds” (listen up, WWE, you’re missing a great opportunity – give Bray Wyatt a Silver Surfer). Xavier was hesitant and frustrated with his teammates’ inability to see the danger that the Wyatt Family posed. He even screamed at his teammates when they would not heed his warning.

Despite Xavier’s concerns, New Day arrived at the Wyatt Family compound only to be decimated. Suffering resounding defeat, their only recourse was to run.

The two teams had their final confrontation at WWE Battleground, with the Wyatts gaining the victory. The WWE brand split began the following night on RAW, and while the New Day remained there, Bray Wyatt moved to Smackdown, ending the feud.

This was a HUGE missed opportunity by WWE creative to tell a long-term story about the corruption and redemption of Xavier Woods, much like Anakin Skywalker’s story in Star Wars. Xavier, much like Anakin, was cocky and arrogant but fought on the side of good. While they are both very similar, it’s their slight differences that would have made Xavier’s story MORE compelling had it been told. During his entire tenure as a Jedi, Anakin was always questioning authority. Whether it be from Obi-Wan, Mace Windu, or even Yoda himself, he strained to fall in line. Xavier, on the other hand, could not have been more loyal to the New Day’s cause. In fact, he was the one that formed the New Day in the first place. To see someone so committed to their cause fall and find his way back would have made for amazing television.

Bray Wyatt represents Emperor Palpatine. Much like Palpatine found Anakin’s weakness (Padme) and exploited it, Bray found Xavier’s weakness (his fear of the Wyatt Family, or taking it further, his fear that the “Power of Positivity” wasn’t enough to defeat them) and did his best to exploit that as well, from calling out Xavier during their promos, to singling him out as a lone target during both the compound confrontation and their Battleground match. Over the weeks and weeks of build-up, you could tell that Bray was slowly breaking Xavier down.

Yoda is considered by some to be the greatest Jedi who ever lived. He had some words during The Phantom Menace in regards to the dark side. It can be used as a template to explain how WWE should have used this great start to tell the fall of Xavier Woods (aka WWE’s Lord Vader).

Fear leads to anger.

Xavier would realize that to face his own fear, he and the New Day would be forced to reach down to the extreme levels that the Wyatt Family does in order to have a chance against them. Kofi and Big E. would have none of it, saying that if they become what they are fighting, then the message of the New Day is lost. This leads to a rematch at SummerSlam where the Wyatts give the New Day an even worse defeat. Xavier, knowing what they could have done to win, gets angry at his teammates.

Anger leads to hate.

At their next meeting at the Clash of Champions event in September, the Wyatts finally defeat the New Day in a title match to become the new World Tag Team Champions. How do they win? During the match, Xavier continues to urge his teammates to use whatever is necessary to take out the Wyatts. They continue to refuse and they start to lose. Xavier’s anger with his teammates continues to grow throughout the match. He stops seeing his teammates as followers of the good and righteous path and begins to see them as weak where the Wyatts are strong. He starts to respect and understand the Wyatts.

Hate leads to suffering.

Towards the end of the match, Xavier starts a fight with Kofi. Big E. in the ring gets distracted by this horrifying event and the Wyatts use this distraction to win. Xavier becomes the newest member of the Wyatt Family. He finally realized that Wyatts’ ways work, and since his best friends can’t see that, he’s joining up with the only people that can.
The next few months would be the New Day (Kofi and Big E) doing everything they could to convince Xavier that he could fight through his fear and anger to return where he belongs. Seeing his chance, Bray Wyatt starts to really push his message about how all of the WWE heroes (like New Day) are weak and what the WWE needs is strength. Xavier finally accepts Wyatt’s message as truth and helps the Wyatts to destroy the New Day time and time again.

Return of the New Day

At some point Kofi and Big E would realize that Xavier is lost, changing the story from bringing their friend back to defeating the Wyatt Family once and for all before they can corrupt other wrestlers. This would lead to Wrestlemania, WWE’s Super Bowl, where a final match between the two teams would lead to the eventual redemption of Xavier. With Wrestlemania being their biggest crowd of the year, THAT much Power of Positivity in one place would be what it takes to snap Xavier back to normal and return to New Day, leading to the Wyatt Family’s defeat when Xavier pins Bray after a head shot from, you guessed it, Francesca II.

Thinking about what could have been gives me chills. Not only would the payoff of this story been AMAZING on a stage like Wrestlemania, but I have enough faith in the wrestlers involved that they would keep fans emotionally involved every week leading up to it. That would have been an amazing Xavier Woods story, and an amazing Anakin Skywalker story. I just wish WWE knew what they had WHEN they had it.

So what do you think? Did the WWE take a classic Star Wars storyline and ALMOST make it better? Would you like to have seen the New Day/Wyatt Family feud play out the way I described? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

Images: WWE/Lucasfilm

]]>SUMMERSLAM By the Numbers: A Look at the WWE’S Second Biggest Attractionhttp://nerdist.com/summerslam-by-the-numbers-a-look-at-the-wwes-second-biggest-attraction/
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 14:30:16 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=430934Over the course of its three-decade history, SummerSlam has had a total of 227 matches. There have been long matches and short matches. There have been title changes,and matches where the only prize is settling a score. When you think of any of the battles that have taken place during SummerSlam, the same thing crosses everyone mind: the numbers. No? Just me? Ah well. Let’s take a look at some of the interesting stats about the WWE’s August tradition.

A single appearance with a win is great, but only three superstars have five or more victories without a single defeat. Hulk Hogan has the most at 6-0, with his most recent victory in 2006 against Randy Orton. The Ultimate Warrior and Rob Van Dam are both 5-0. Out of all these wins, the Warrior’s first victory is arguably the most significant, as he won the Intercontinental Title from the Honky Tonk Man, ending a 454-day reign, the longest continuous IC champion to this day.

Side Note: While these are the best records of those who never suffered defeat at SummerSlam, none of these gentlemen hold the most actual wins at the event. That honor goes to the legendary Undertaker, who in 16 SummerSlam appearances has won 10.

Worst Record: Booker T (0-5)

With every winner, there must be a loser. Unfortunately for Booker T, SummerSlam was never his time to shine. Appearing five times, five times, five times, five times, five times (old school wrestling fans will get that one), he lost every single time. Taking away a little bit of the sting from this poor record, his losses were to some great wrestlers: The Rock, Batista, John Cena, Triple H, Lance Storm, and Christian. So at least Booker T lost after going up against some amazing competition. The downside to that is he never lost due to someone cashing in their Money in the Bank contract, so he couldn’t use that as an excuse. And despite his poor record at SummerSlam, Booker T is a multi-time World Champion, a WWE Hall of Famer, oh and his theme music was also cool as hell.

Most Main Event Appearances: John Cena (6)

The main event is always the last match on the card. With all the storylines going on the in the WWE, the main event match reflects which storyline is the most important. On very few occasions, there are double, even triple main events because some storylines are just that important. Through it all the man people love to hate AND love to love depending on the day of the week has the top spot in this category. Appearing in six main events, John Cena has dominated the spotlight when it comes to SummerSlam. While I am sure he will main event SummerSlam again in the future for his sake I hope it’s not a repeat of his last appearance at the top of the card in 2014, where he was manhandled for 16 minutes by Brock Lesnar.

Title that has changed hands the most: The Intercontinental Title (14)

< a href=”http://nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Intercontinental-Championship-08132016.png”>

This year at SummerSlam, The Miz defends his Intercontinental Championship against newcomer Apollo Crews. If I were The Miz, I would definitely have some tricks up my sleeve. Not only is Crews a threat to the title due to his amazing wrestling skills, but the Intercontinental Title has swapped owners 14 times at SummerSlam. In fact, the first five SummerSlams in a row saw new IC champions crowned. Until Shawn Michaels finally broke this unlucky streak by avoiding a loss at the 1993 event, being the Intercontinental Champion going into SummerSlam was almost like having the “Madden Curse.”

Biggest attendance (Wembley Stadium, 80,355)

In total, 557,694 people have attended SummerSlam (YES, some people have attended more than once, including me. I think that’s splitting hairs). Out of that over half a million people, 80,355 filled Wembley Stadium for SummerSlam 1992 to see their hometown hero, the British Bulldog, defeat his brother-in-law Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship. They also got to witness The Ultimate Warrior fight “Macho Man” Randy Savage for the WWE Championship and see the Undertaker arrive to the ring atop a hearse before his match against Kamala. While today’s fans know to expect dramatic entrances from the Undertaker, SummerSlam 1992 was where that began.

Celebrities that wrestled at SummerSlam: 1 (Stephen Amell)

Wrestlemania, the WWE’s biggest event, has on occasion opened the door for some non-wrestling celebrities to lace up the boots and see action in the ring. It started with Mr. T back in 1985. Since then, people like Lawrence Taylor, Maria Menounos, William “Refrigerator” Perry and even Snooki of all people have fought in the ring at Wrestlemania. SummerSlam, on the other hand, has seen just one celebrity enter the squared circle. Teaming up with Neville against Stardust and Wade Barrett, Arrow’sStephen Amell was able to check off something from his bucket list and look good doing it. His Arrow training definitely served him well as he went toe to toe with his opponents. After diving from the top turnbuckle onto Stardust and Barrett on the floor outside the ring, Amell was able to roll the stunned Barrett back in so Neville could hit his Red Arrow finisher (coincidence) and gain the victory. Whether or not we see Amell back in the ring has yet to be seen, but for now, he can at least say he has a better SummerSlam record than Booker T.

Longest Match: Team WWE vs. Team Nexus (35:16, 2010)

The summer of 2010 saw Nexus, a group of seven renegade rookies led by Wade Barrett, running roughshod all over the WWE because they didn’t think they were being treated fairly on the WWE’s program for up and coming wrestlers, NXT. After attacking any and every one from the WWE roster, both backstage and in the ring, John Cena and six partners decided to end these rookies’ rampage by facing them at SummerSlam. Cena’s team included Chris Jericho, Edge, the legendary Bret Hart, R-Truth, John Morrison, and Daniel Bryan, who was unceremoniously kicked out of Nexus and wanted revenge (I am sticking with the storyline, people). After 35 minutes of pure melee, it came down to John Cena and Wade Barrett, with Cena securing the victory by making Barrett submit to the STF. It was a great match, and taught a great lesson, “respect your elders.”

Shortest Match: Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan (8 seconds, 2013)

Eight seconds is all it took for the WWE to begin an eight-month long storyline that could very well go down in history as one of its best. Daniel Bryan had just beaten John Cena for the WWE title after a grueling 27-minute match. As Bryan’s hand was being raised in victory by special guest referee Triple H, Randy Orton’s music started and Orton walked to the ring slowly, teasing he was going to cash in his Money in the Bank Contract (he won a ladder match the previous month that gives him one title shot anytime, anyplace). While Bryan’s attention was fixed on Orton, Triple H attacked him from behind with a Pedigree. Orton then crawled in the ring and “pinned” the unconscious Bryan to claim the title. Triple H tried to excuse his despicable interference by saying that Bryan wasn’t good enough to be the champion and face of WWE. Fortunately for the fans who unanimously adored Bryan, Triple H would be proven wrong again and again. After numerous battles, Bryan eventually overcame all the odds stacked against him by WWE management and won the WWE title at Wrestlemania XXX. It was an epic underdog storyline that fans loved, and it only took eight seconds to jumpstart it.

Number of times Brock Lesnar took someone to Suplex City: 32

Brock Lesnar has wrestled in six SummerSlam matches. In that time, he has executed the suplex a total of 32 times on his various opponents. At the beginning of his career before he became the “Mayor of Suplex City,” he performed a mere seven suplexes during his SummerSlam appearances in 2002, 2003, and 2012, for an average of 2.3 per year. 2013, against CM Punk, saw a little increase with four suplexes. It was his 2014 WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against John Cena where Suplex City became open for business at SummerSlam. I said earlier that he has hit a total of 32 suplexes. Let’s just say that just like a high roller at a casino, John Cena had his entire stay in Suplex City comped, being on the receiving end of half of Lesnar’s SummerSlam total, 16.

Over the years, SummerSlam has grown where it is almost as important to the fans as Wrestlemania. Hopefully, these numbers will give you some insight into what the WWE has called the “hottest ticket of the summer.”

So what do you think? What is your favorite SummerSlam stat? Is there one not listed here you wish you knew? Who will win, Seth Rollins or Finn Balor? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

Images: WWE

]]>GAME OF THRONES Season 6 VFX Reel, and More TV Updateshttp://nerdist.com/game-of-thrones-season-6-vfx-reel-and-more-tv-updates/
Mon, 15 Aug 2016 18:00:12 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=431192As usual, Dany’s dragons had a few standout scenes in the latest season of Game of Thrones. Jump into today’s TV-Cap to watch her children come to life in a season six VFX reel, watch a teaser for American Horror Story, learn about a place The Flash will visit next season, and more.

Watch It Transform. It takes a village to make HBO’s Game of Thrones look the way it does. And by “village,” I mean a ton of FX artists. Rodeo FX made 152 visual effects for season six of the series, including that big ol’ battle over Meereen. See some before and after shots in the above reel. It should go without saying but just in case: There are spoilers if you’re not caught up. [Nerdist]

A Pivotal Part.The Good Place, NBC’s comedy starring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson has added Tiya Sircar (Star Wars Rebels) in a “heavily recurring role.” No details are available about her part, but it’s apparently a key one. [Deadline]

Late Justice. Netflix’s Making a Murderer chilled us all in illustrating how the justice system can fail. Brendan Dassey seemed to be forced to confess to a crime he didn’t commit. And now, the United states District Court of the Eastern District of Wisconsin has decided to overturn his conviction. They’ll release him in 90 days unless the state decides to retry him. [Nerdist]

Trying to Make It. FX’s Atlanta’s first full trailer is here, and it shows off a world combining the drama of day-to-day survival and relationships with a little humor. Created by and starring Donald Glover, the show about a rapper trying to go big looks prepared to tackle heavy themes when it debuts on September 6. [Nerdist]

Grodd Is Back. One of the most fun villains in The Flash is Gorilla Grodd. That’s not an opinion, it’s a fact. And he’ll be back in season three! Series executive producer Andrew Kreisberg confirmed the news at the Television Critics Association. “We’re going to be doing a two-part episode that takes place in Gorilla City,” he said. Gorilla City! I’ll pack my bags now. [Comic Book Resources]

Vote Now. Who would you put in charge of Westeros? HBO is playing with the idea of democracy in Game of Thrones and putting the power in your hands with an election themed promo. Watch all the political ads here at Nerdist and then vote at TheGoTParty.com.

The Best Laughs. Jay Pharoah is another member of the Saturday Night Live cast not coming back next season (neither is Taran Killam). To say good-bye, Michael has rounded up the best of Pharoah’s sketches and impressions. You can check them out and brighten your Monday right this way.

One Creepy Sunset. FX’s American Horror Story returns with its sixth season on September 14, and the theme is still a mystery. Apparently that batch of six teasers released in July was mostly misleading with only one truly representing the season ahead. The newest promo, embedded above, isn’t a misdirect as far as we know; it features a super scary sunset shot. What do you think it means? [TVLine]

Digestive Concerns. NBC has a new series starring William Shatner. Better Late Than Never premieres on August 23 and looks to be all sorts of bizarre and amusing. Shatner has a distinct storytelling style. You can see proof in the above promo with Shatner discussing worries about exotic food interfering with digestion. [Nerdist]

A Fine Ending. Cinemax’s Outcast just wrapped season one on Friday, and Michael thought it was an excellent finale. Read his review here at Nerdist.

Are you on board with Atlanta? Did you like the Outcast season one finale? Sound off in the comments.

Featured Image: HBO

]]>Relive the Best of the Best with SUMMERSLAM’S 10 Greatest Matcheshttp://nerdist.com/relive-the-best-of-the-best-with-summerslams-10-greatest-matches/
Sun, 14 Aug 2016 17:00:31 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=430516On August 21st, SummerSlam 2016 will descend upon the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. With matches including Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte, Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor, and Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar, this could turn out to be one of the best cards in the event’s 29-year history. While many great matches took place over the last three decades, 10 stand out as the best of the best. Let’s take a look at what made the cut.

In 2001, WWE bought their long time rival WCW. Although the “Invasion” storyline promised fans their dream of matches between the superstars of WWE and WCW, confusing subplots and inexplicable roster changes between the rival groups left fans mostly disappointed. However, the storyline DID provide fans with an excellent SummerSlam match between WWE champion Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle. Stone Cold had recently defected from the WWE to the WCW/ECW Alliance, stating that Vince McMahon was grooming Kurt to be the next big star while leaving him in the dust. This part of the storyline not only lead to Stone Cold once again becoming a heel (bad guy), but it saw Kurt’s first run as a babyface (good guy).

After the two beat the crap out of each other for 22 minutes and 30 seconds, Stone Cold was eventually disqualified for attacking the referees. This didn’t sit well with Kurt, who wanted a definitive victory, so he took his frustrations out on a referee of his own. What made this match great was how it showed yet another side of Kurt Angle. Since his debut in 1999, he had been an arrogant jerk, a comedic buffoon, and a great technical wrestler, but this added a mean streak in Angle that showed while he appears silly at times, he knows when it’s time to throw the comedy and the technical prowess out the window and just beat the crap out of someone.

Before they became multi-time World Champions, Triple H and The Rock spent the summer of 1998 fighting over the Intercontinental championship. With both of their teams (DX and the Nation of Domination, respectively) always interfering in the matches, there was never a clear-cut winner, and thus their feud would culminate at Madison Square Garden in a ladder match for the title. The championship belt, hanging 20 feet above the ring, could only be won when a wrestler was able to set up and climb a ladder to retrieve it.

There have been many ladder matches in the WWE, but what made this one special was how the wrestlers approached the issue of the ladder. Most ladder matches revolve around the ladder itself. Who can jump off the highest ladder? Who can use the ladder as a weapon in the coolest way? Instead of yet another ladder focused match, these guys had a regular, hard hitting wrestling match that just happened to have a ladder as part of it. They didn’t use the ladder as a crutch; they used it as an extension to an already intense fight. After some interference from his DX teammate Chyna, Triple H was able to pull the belt down and win the title. The great wrestling in this match helped strengthen the idea that these two were future World Champions. In fact, the next time they would meet each other at SummerSlam in 2000, it would be for the WWE Championship.

8. Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock (WWE Championship Match, 2002)

2002 saw the WWE debut of Brock Lesnar, and it turned out to be one of, if not THE, greatest individual debuts of all time. After dominating opponents like the Hardyz, Hulk Hogan, and Rob Van Dam, the 25-year-old Lesnar became the number one contender to the WWE Championship, held at the time by The Rock. The match took place at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY. After a dominating start by Lesnar, the match turned into a back and forth affair, with each wrestler matching the other almost move for move. After surviving The Rock’s two signature moves, the Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow, Lesnar became the youngest world champion in WWE history after successfully executing his own finishing move, the F-5.

While this match was great on action alone, the impact during and after the match are what put it on the list. This was The Rock’s last match as a full-time wrestler with WWE, and his last one as champion for almost a decade. This match was a passing of the torch to Lesnar. Lesnar was supposed to be the heel going into this match, but he connected with the Uniondale crowd, who were very vocal about their support for “The Next Big Thing.” Chants of “Rocky sucks!” were deafening at times. The Rock took notice to this and added fuel to the flame by yelling and taunting the crowd during the match. He knew his job was to help solidify Lesnar as the continuing superstar, and this was an amazing way to do it.

Before his infamous 1997 feud with Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart spent the majority of the ’90s feuding with his own flesh and blood, his younger brother Owen. It was a classic storyline of “jealous little brother can’t get out of big brother’s shadow” and Owen played the role perfectly. Nothing pleased the fans more than the possibility of seeing this whiny brat get his comeuppance at the hands of the universally beloved “Hitman.” This would take place at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, inside the confines of a 15-foot high steel cage. There are three ways to win a cage match: pinfall, submission, or escaping the cage with both feet hitting the floor. Sometimes cage matches get repetitive: one wrestler climbs the cage, about to escape, his/her opponent jumps and stops them at the last second, rinse repeat. Even the greatest of wrestlers can fall into that trap. What made this 33-minute match great was the emotional build-up between the feuding brothers throughout the summer made every crawl up the cage or towards the door so intense you didn’t want it to end. It’s like a REALLY great book. You can’t wait to read what happens, but you loved the journey so much you delayed it as much as you could. The added drama of the ENTIRE Hart family sitting at ringside, agonizing over their loved ones fighting and featured prominently by the ringside cameras, added credibility to the storyline and made everything happening in the ring count.

After dual sharpshooter submission holds by each of them, the end came when both Bret and Owen scaled the cage at the same time, only for Bret to get the victory when Owen’s legs got caught in the cage. While this wasn’t the last time the two brothers stood across the ring from each other, nothing would compare to this amazing battle.

After losing the tag team championship at Wrestlemania VII as part of the Hart Foundation, Bret Hart decided to go out on his own. Fans were ready to see him go solo because he was considered one of the best technical wrestlers in the company. Mr. Perfect had dominated the Intercontinental Title picture for the better part of two years and was in the midst of his second reign. The match between these two technical savants at Madison Square Garden had all the makings of an instant classic, and it did not disappoint. This was 18 minutes of pure wrestling, with neither wrestler getting a huge advantage.

Although the match wasn’t as flashy as some others on this list, there was significant tension watching two perfectly (no pun intended) matched opponents duel, waiting to see who made the first mistake. That prize went to Mr. Perfect, who, after going for a legdrop, was caught in Hart’s submission hold, the sharpshooter. Mr. Perfect tapped out, and Bret began his first of two Intercontinental Title reigns.

Side Note: This match has HUGE nostalgia factor for me. SummerSlam 1991 was the first WWE event I had bought with my own money. While I LIKED wrestling up to this point, this match made me realized I LOVED it.

Since this was 2000, of COURSE the Hardyz and Dudleyz ended their names with Zs. *Sigh* What were we thinking back then? Well, the lack of spelling judgment did nothing to take away from the awesomeness of this match, the first “Tables Ladders, and Chairs” match (TLC) in WWE history. It stemmed from each team’s strengths: Hardyz and ladders, Dudleyz and tables, and Edge/Christian and chairs. I stated before how ladder matches can turn into a “who can do it better” fest and take away from the match. This did the complete opposite. These three teams decided to take that trope and take it to the next level, using their skill with their specialty to take some extreme risks.

The majority of this match wasn’t about becoming the tag team champs. It was about three tag teams, all proving they were the best in the world with their most jaw-dropping moves. From Jeff Hardy’s swanton (front flip dive) off the ladder through a table, to Bubba Ray Dudley taking a leap through FOUR tables, this match was non-stop action and destruction from beginning to end. They amazingly didn’t even fall into the oft-time problems with matches revolving around tables, ladders, or chairs: the long wait while the pieces are set up for the awesome moves. Because there were three teams at the top of their game and specialties, there was hardly any downtime. While Edge and Christian ended up pulling out the victory and retaining their titles, all three teams put the WWE on notice that a new standard for specialty matches had bet set.

In 1994, Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon fought in a ladder match at Wrestlemania X that many consider the greatest ladder match of all time. I am hard-pressed to disagree, but I’ll be damned if the two hall of famers didn’t give it their all to top that performance the following year at SummerSlam. With both superstars in the babyface role, the crowd was pretty much split down the middle. This match was more vicious and aggressive, with each wrestler using the ladder as a weapon more often and mercilessly attacking their temporarily vulnerable foe. For example, Shawn fell through the rungs of the ladder wrenching his knee, and Razor capitalized on the moment by slamming the sides of the ladder together with Shawn’s knee caught in between. Another moment saw Shawn execute a moonsault from the ladder, while later in the match Razor put Shawn into the Razor’s Edge, from the ladder, which at that height could not have felt good upon landing. Now the match didn’t go perfectly, as sometimes the ladders didn’t cooperate as well as they should, like at the end of the match when Shawn climbed a ladder that wasn’t tall enough to reach the title (which he eventually retrieved to retain his championship). However, the effort they put forth and risks these great superstars took to give the fans something even more spectacular than their previous ladder match definitely makes this the best SummerSlam ladder match ever.

3. Undertaker vs. Edge (Hell in a Cell Match, 2008)

This match wasn’t for a title. It was just two WWE superstars who hated each other so much they were willing to enter the most dangerous match the WWE has to offer, Hell in a Cell (HIAC). Hell in a Cell is a Steel cage that surrounds ALL of ringside, is 20 feet tall, and has a roof. You can only win this match by pinfall or submission. Anything else goes. These two superstars fought for most of the year, trading the World Heavyweight Title back and forth, and the Undertaker taking the brunt of the losses thanks to Edge’s faction, La Familia. However, after a falling out with his on-camera wife, Smackdown’s general manager Vickie Guerrero, Edge was unceremoniously put into a match with the Undertaker, this time within the confines of the “devil’s playground” (the cell’s nickname). After the announcement of the match, Edge was initially scared to enter HIAC with the Undertaker, who by now was a well-established wrestling demi-god and master at HIAC matches. A pep-talk from wrestling legend Mick Foley caused something inside Edge to “snap.” Edge viciously attacked Foley and later the members of La Familia. It appeared that Edge had finally gone crazy enough to willingly get locked inside of a steel cage with the Undertaker.

Although this was Edge’s first HIAC match and he was going up against a hard-to-beat foe with plenty of experience, Edge had been involved in MANY TLC matches and understood how to use the right weapon to get the upper hand against a stronger foe. Even after pulling out all the tables, ladders, and chairs he could, however, Edge was unable to get the win over the Undertaker, who picked up the victory with a Tombstone piledriver. The Undertaker put the icing on his victory cake after the match by choke slamming Edge, the Rated-R Superstar (STILL my favorite nickname of all time), THROUGH the ring, with the idea being he sent Edge straight to hell itself. Fire even spewed from the hole Edge fell through, because of course it would.

Bret Hart is without question one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. The proof is right here, as he makes his third appearance on the list. It’s still another family affair as this time, he defended the Intercontinental Championship against his brother-in-law, the British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith. While they were evenly matched in wrestling abilities, Smith had a serious hometown advantage as the event took place in front of 80,355 of his countrymen at Wembley stadium in London, England. The match lasted 25 minutes, with Bret’s technical skill meshing well against the power of Smith. With the crowd nearly 100% behind Smith, Bret fed off the crowd’s negativity as the great wrestlers do, acting somewhat heelish throughout the match to rile the crowd up even more. The wrestlers teased and tormented the excited crowd by giving the impression that Smith was about to win, only to have Hart escape and gain the upper hand. Each time it appeared that Smith or Hart was going to gain the victory, the other used the last of their strength to keep going a little longer. Finally, an attempted sunset flip by Bret was reversed by Smith into a pin and the title. To this day, it is one of the loudest crowd reactions I have ever heard on TV.

At the end, and after some hesitation to capitalize on the tension between these two, they shook hands and embraced. This match showed that not every storyline has to be about good guy versus bad guy. When Bret fought Owen, the family was in turmoil over the feuding brothers. With this match, it was just two brothers finding out who the better man was, with a sister/wife at ringside, praying no permanent damage was done.

1. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (Unsanctioned Street Fight)

Our number one match was not only a violent, emotional battle between former best friends, it showcased a triumphant return four and a half years in the making. After a long absence to recuperate from a serious injury, Shawn Michaels teased a return to the ring. He was then betrayed and violently attacked by his longtime DX teammate and best friend Triple H. Triple H was tired of feeling like Shawn’s “sidekick” and wanted HIS time in the spotlight. Shawn wanted revenge, and there was no better place to receive it than in his comeback match. Dubbed an “unsanctioned street fight,” this was an anything goes match, with the two former friends fighting each other from pillar to post with trash cans, ladders, tables, you name it.

This match earns the number one slot because of the emotion behind it. DX was one of the most popular factions of all time. Michaels were not only teammates but best friends in and out of the ring. To see them implode was devastating and amazing at the same time. The mix of a friend’s utter betrayal with the return of who many claim is the best in-ring performer of all time puts this match above all the others. Michaels showed that he could pick up where he left off from years ago and proved he was one of the very best in the business. He wrestled flawlessly, not missing a step. After 28 minutes of fighting, Shawn picked up the win in his first match since 1998 with a simple roll-up, poetic justice against a former “brother” that was out to end his career. Triple H ended up with the last laugh, attacking Michaels with a sledgehammer after the bell.

Honorable Mentions:

Eight title matches, three ladder matches, two flat out FIGHTS, and Bret Hart. These are the ingredients that make for a great top ten SummerSlam match list. With this year’s card, it’s only a matter of time before one of the matches from 2016’s SummerSlam makes this list.

So what do you think? Which of these matches is your favorite? Do you have a match you wish was part of this list? Let me know on Twitter or climb the ladder and jump off the top of the cage into the comments below.

Images: WWE

]]>How Nerddom Made Me a Wrestling Fanhttp://nerdist.com/how-nerddom-made-me-a-wrestling-fan/
Tue, 26 Jul 2016 14:30:48 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=422864What started me down the path of professional wrestling fandom was not Hulkamania, Cyndi Lauper videos, the Attitude Era, or anything else you might expect it to be for someone my age. No, for me the gateway was Shirley Crabtree. Now, to hear that name, you might suspect I’m talking about an old girlfriend or something, but much like Johnny Cash’s Boy Named Sue, this Shirley was no lady. Standing 6 foot 6 and weighing in at 375 pounds, Crabtree was better-known as Big Daddy, a sort of English version of Dusty Rhodes, with bleached-blond hair, working class background, fatty physique, and patriotic ring gear. And before I knew he was a real person, he was a comic-book character, appearing in the British kids’ comic Buster. I was living in Ireland at the time.

I should note that unlike comics over here that tend to be one story about one hero, UK comics featured multiple stories and characters under a unifying brand. And for kids, these stories were often akin to our Sunday-paper funnies, in length and style/genre, but compiled in a larger weekly comic. Big Daddy was a hero who helped kids in trouble, always in his wrestling entrance gear complete with Union-Jack cape and tiny hat, and always saving the day with the catchphrase “E-A-S-Y!” When I found out he was a real person, my very young mind was blown. When I was told what he did was fake, I was dismayed. It was my father, who wasn’t necessarily a fan, who assured me that just because it’s fixed doesn’t mean we know who will win, and besides, it means they aren’t really hurting and injuring each other. In some ways, it was easier to like it then when we thought all of it was fake, rather than now, as we see the damage done to bodies over time, and the rash of early deaths that has plagued the business.

I first saw Hulk Hogan when he was a guest star on The A-Team, a show that in and of itself was not unlike the then-WWF, with its larger-than-life, cartoonish heroes and gunfire that rarely actually hurt anybody. It led me to wonder who would win in a fight between Hogan and Mr. T, and on this topic my father was less helpful: “It depends who was faked to win.” Way to puncture the air out of that one. Around 1987, Ireland finally got two European cable channels, expanding our lineup to a whopping 8 in total (two Irish channels, four English, and now two mostly English-language European). One of them, Sky Channel (now part of the Murdoch/Fox empire) aired World Wrestling Federation, beginning big with WrestleMania III. And all I knew about that was Hulk Hogan was going to fight a giant who had never been beaten. I’d never seen Andre before, but there was an overall impression that this would be Hulk’s biggest challenge. It ran until midnight and I wasn’t allowed to stay up that late as a 13 year-old, but the next morning, the kid that did came in screaming, “Hogan won! He did a bodyslam!” Some classmates still sniffed that it was fake, but I was way passed caring about that complaint.

Once I saw WWF, with its physiques that resembled comic book characters or He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, I couldn’t go back to British wrestling. UK matches had rounds like a boxing match, and a solo commentator who seemed half asleep; WWF went till one guy dropped, and had Jesse “The Body” Ventura as a bad-guy commentator taunting the regular announcers. I wasn’t a sports fan, so the further the characters got from real life, the better: Kamala, The One Man Gang, Demolition, Koko B. Ware, and all the guys with crazy gimmicks were what hooked me. Like superheroes, they had cool skin-tight outfits and special “powers,” manifested in unique finishing moves. Hell, some of them even did seem to have super powers–Hulk Hogan’s “hulking up” was like He-Man recharging with the power of Grayskull, while Undertaker derived invincibility from his magic urn. Sure, it wasn’t real, but neither are comic books. When I visited the U.S. and was introduced to the NWA, it took me longer to warm to it because their characters were less ludicrous, though the Road Warriors held instant appeal (and were snapped up by the WWF not too many years later).

With time, I started to look at the subtext of some of the characters, and ask myself why I cheered for Hulk Hogan. He was, after all, something of an embodiment of conservative Christian values that were not mine, and his style was mostly barely legal punches; meanwhile, a supposed bad guy like Honky Tonk Man kept thanking his fans and saying they were a beautiful audience. Jesse Ventura, a heel commentator, started to make sense to me when he critiqued the bland jingoism of some of the heroes. Before long, I was rooting for the bad guys, who had the cooler, scarier gimmicks anyway, and were often free to be more entertaining. When we were asked to send Hogan “get well” cards, I sent him one telling him to go to hell and not get better; I was rewarded by a form letter thanking me for being a good Hulkamaniac, and that he was coming back to reward my faith in him.

I think I was but the first of many; in time, the business changed to reflect that the fans did indeed want more bad guys, right around the same time the comics industry noticed that characters like the Punisher and Deadpool were gaining more popularity that Superman and Spider-Man. Even Hulk Hogan turned bad, which was unthinkable. The business was growing up with me–those of us who’d become fans during the mid-’80s explosion of WWF were now being catered to in our young-adult years with characters swearing, flipping the bird, drinking beer, and engaging in sex-scandal storylines. Alongside the cartoonish Undertaker and Goldust, we had fake porn stars and pimps. WWF, now WWE, regularly had its female personalities do Playboy pictorials. Again, comics mirrored this with the “Bad Girl” trend–it was fitting that Chaos Comics, who published Lady Death and Purgatori, also put out Mankind and Undertaker comics at the time.

Still, even during this Attitude Era, and the burgeoning movie career of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (who’d been “Rocky Maivia” to us fans mere years earlier), wrestling fandom wasn’t cool outside of our own group. Not even nerd-cool. After touring with Marilyn Manson, Courtney Love made a crack about how she was sick of playing for guys in WWE T-shirts, and that tended to sum up the general sense I got that such shirts were effectively date-repellent (we didn’t know yet that The Rock was slowly expanding the female fan base). When reality shows like Tough Enough and documentaries like Beyond the Mat finally showed how physically tough the wrestling lifestyle actually was, I think we turned a bit of a corner perception-wise. Anyone who thought it was somehow all an illusion now had concrete proof that “fixed” and “fake” were not remotely the same thing.

Over the past decade, an increase in all sorts of people getting online via mobile devices has expanded nerddom generally in many directions. Where previously it seemed like it was mostly male computer-philes who were finding each other and connecting their fandoms, now everyone was. It’s made the community a lot more diverse, as more people who were once afraid to express their nerdy obsessions found many, many other people in cyberspace who shared them. And both wrestling and wrestling fans have benefited from that…A LOT.

Nearly four years ago, I took the reins of a popular nerd website and added a wrestling column, and you’d have thought I brought on the apocalypse. Variations on “This site used to be cool but now it’s all about wrestling and fast food!” dogged me there for three years; meanwhile, CM Punk was doing videos on grammar for Nerdist, Seth Green and the Muppets were appearing on Monday Night Raw, and Max Landis filmed an eloquent defense of why wrestling storylines resonate (see above). Today’s WWE fanbase is mostly, apparently, males in their 40s, and a large subsection of Mattel’s toy line is aimed at them. And Sheamus got to be a Ninja Turtles villain, proudly, where Kevin Nash’s role as Super Shredder in The Secret of the Ooze had not been so touted. Dave Bautista is now Drax the Destroyer, and The Rock will be Black Adam. Within nerd circles, wrestling no longer needs to be defended.

And that works for me. Because 20-plus years of it got exhausting.

Featured Image: Cyndi Lauper

Speaking of CM Punk teaching you grammar…

]]>Japanese STEVE AUSTIN and THE ROCK Figures Have the Right Attitudehttp://nerdist.com/japanese-steve-austin-and-the-rock-figures-have-the-right-attitude/
Sun, 10 Jul 2016 16:00:20 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=419663Thanks to the internet, the world of pro-wrestling has gone through a bit of a resurgence the past few years. While WWE is still on the top of the mountain, fans can find pretty much anything that fits their particular tastes, but even with so many options, many old-school fans agree the greatest time period in wrestling was arguably the “Attitude Era” during the late ’90s. The then-WWF took a more “shock-value” approach to its storylines, and while it had both hits and misses, its influence cannot be denied. Thanks to Tamashii Nations, Bandai’s collectible brand, you can relive that age of wrestling with the release of two figures representing its peak, Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock.

Revealed on Tamashii’s Twitter page, these two figures will be released in December of 2016, hopefully just in time for Christmas. These fully articulated rivals look great and give fans the opportunity to recreate some of their classic poses. The Stone Cold figure comes with different head sculpts so he can either run his mouth or stare you down. If you want to have your own beer bash, he also comes with two cans of beer and splash effects. Oh, and from the looks of his vest, this will be the first Austin figure that has “Whoop-Ass” adorned on it. That already makes it a definite purchase for fans of the “Texas Rattlesnake.”

The Rock also comes with different head sculpts as well. When it comes to talking skills, not very many people can top “The People’s Champ,” so of course, he comes with his own microphone.

The two icons will be part of the S.H. Figuarts line, so it’s not surprising how great they look. If you were a fan of this insane era of wrestling, these figures are must-haves for your collection. You can pre-order both figures on S.H. Figuarts website here.

So what do you think? Are you excited to get this figures in December? What other WWE superstars should get this type of treatment? Let me know on Twitter or let us smell what you’re cooking in the comments below.

Images: Tamashii Nations

]]>The Original THOR is Returning, Plus More Comics Goodness!http://nerdist.com/the-original-thor-is-returning-plus-more-comics-goodness/
Sat, 09 Jul 2016 02:00:48 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=419471Time for your weekend edition of Comics Relief, where today we’ve got lots of news on retro comics favorites from the ’70s and ’80s, ready to make big comebacks. Read on for all the details…

Genndy Tatakovsky’s Luke Cage Series Finally Scheduled

Way back in 2007, it was announced that Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky was going to produce a Luke Cage limited series for Marvel Comics, set in the yellow blouse/silver tiara era of his heroic career. But for whatever reason, the series never saw the light of day. Now it’s finally coming, as this fall Tartakovsky’s Cage! will finally hit stands.

The first issue of the four issue limited series will have lots of crazy action, which most fans know is Tartakovsky’s calling card, and even cooler, the series will be set in the ’70s, so expect lots of big afros and bell bottoms and other tropes of the era. You can see the cover for the first issue above. Issue #1 hits comic shops in October. [Birth.Movies.Death]

Prince Adam and Lion-O Finally Meet in New He-Man/Thudercats Mini-Series

If you were a child in the ’80s, then this is THE crossover event you’ve been waiting over thirty years for. DC Comics have announced a He-Man/Thundercats mini-series launching this coming October. This six-issue limited series will be written by Mattel Head Writer and Masters of the Universe Lead Creative Rob David and Supervising Producer Lloyd Goldfine, with art by Freddie E. Williams II who recently wrapped the Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover.

The heroes of Eternia and Third Earth will unite thanks to a dastardly plot by Thundercats main bad guy Mumm-Ra, who searches the dimensions looking for a weapon that can defeat Lion-O’s Sword of Omens. Of course, he lands on He-Man’s own power sword, and then wackiness ensues.

Unlike the other two titans of ’80s cartoons/toys, Transformers and GI Joe, Masters of the Universe and Thundercats never crossed over due to being owned by separate toy companies. So this one has truly been three decades in the making. Sadly, I can’t go back in time to the mid ’80s and tell ten year old me this is happening, because it would probably make his week. Issue #1 of He-Man/Thundercats hits in October. You can read our full story on the new series at the following link [Nerdist]

Bryan Hitch talks Justice League Rebirth

This past week Justice League Rebirth hit the stands, with a slightly different version of the iconic team line-up: We’ve got two Green Lanterns instead of one, and a Superman from a now-lost universe replacing the dead, New-52-era Man of Steel. Now writer Bryan Hitch talks to DC All Access about what fans can expect from the new League going forward. You can watch the video in its entirety above.

BOOM! Studios and WWE Partner Up

There’s always been a cross section of comics fans and pro wrestling, and now those worlds are about to collide again. BOOM! Studios have just announced that they are partnering with WWE for a line of comic books and graphic novels. Right now, the only details we have on this partnership are a John Cena illustration by Jamal Campbell.

WWE’s Executive Vice President Casey Collins said in a statement “Boom! is one of the fastest-growing comic book publishers in the industry and their vision for the WWE brand showed us exactly why. We were blown away by the level of detail and creativity and are confident the WWE Universe and comic book fans will agree.” You can see the John Cena illustration by Jamal Campbell above. [Newsarama]

The Odinson Returns in The Unworthy Thor

Last year, Marvel made headlines by making the new Thor a woman — the original Thor’s former love Jane Foster, who was now dying of cancer. But what about the original Thor? He wasn’t dead after all, just deemed “unworthy” of the hammer since the 2014 event Original Sin. But now the Odinson is back, in a new Marvel NOW! series called The Unworthy Thor.

According to the official description, the new book “will follow the god’s escape and captivity – revealed to be at the hands of none other than cosmic archivist the Collector – and his journey to becoming a hero once more.” Long-time Thor writer Jason Aaron will write The Unworthy Thor, joined by returning artist Olivier Coipel, making this an all-star Thor creative team.

It also seems that Thor will carry the hammer of the now-dead Thor from the Ultimate universe. But how can he be unworthy of one hammer and yet worthy of another? Said writer Jason Aaron in an interview “Yeah, certainly the hammer is like the hammer we’ve already got, right? It came over from a completely different Thor, so yeah, that’s a very good question.” The Unworthy Thor is scheduled to debut this fall. [io9]

AfterShock Announces New Warren Ellis Series

New comic book publisher AfterShock has just announced new series Shipwreck from the all-star creative team of writer Warren Ellis, known for his work on legendary books like Planetary and Transmetropolitan, and Ant-Man artist Phil Hester. According to the official solicitation for issue #1, Shipwreck follows Dr Jonathan Shipwright, “the sole survivor of a very unusual and very secret shipwreck, who doesn’t know where he is. Seemingly trapped on an endless road, in pursuit of a saboteur who holds the key to his salvation — or doom.” You can see a preview for the cover to issue #1 above. The first issue goes on sale October 5th.

KFC’s Col. Sanders Comes to the DC Multiverse. For Real.

The DC Multiverse is filled with alternate and wacky versions of Superman, Batman and just about everyone else. As it turns out, it’s also filled with alternate versions of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Harlan Sanders. Yes, in Tony Bedard and Tom Derenick’s KFC: The Colonel Corps, Earth-1’s Colonel Sanders, or at least the fast food icon as seen on ads and commercials over the years, “travels around the multiverse to recollect the missing pieces of his secret recipe”. The issue also features Earth-1’s Colonel Sanders against Colonel Sunder, his evil doppelganger from Earth-3, home of the Crime Syndicate. KFC: The Colonel Corps is now available for free on comiXology. [CBR]

Images: DC Comics / Marvel Comics / BOOM! Studios / AfterShock Comics

]]>The Jonah Keri Podcast #35: Brian Gewirtzhttp://nerdist.com/the-jonah-keri-podcast-35-brian-gewirtz/
Fri, 01 Jul 2016 14:00:45 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=416968Jonah Keri goes to the mat with Brian Gewirtz, former head writer for WWE Raw, about his extensive Mets memorabilia collection; the art of collecting; why he would never date a Yankees fan; his days as a sitcom writer for Jenny McCarthy and teenage werewolves; the process of writing for pro wrestling; good guys vs. bad guys; behind the scenes of WWF/WWE; The Rock, John Cena, The Undertaker, and Vince McMahon; his current job at Seven Bucks, Dwayne Johnson’s production company; Brian and Cousin Sal’s victory over Jonah in League of Leagues baseball; and Brian’s Life Tip.

]]>Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Evolution from Hated Villain to Superstarhttp://nerdist.com/dwayne-the-rock-johnsons-evolution-from-hated-villain-to-superstar/
Fri, 17 Jun 2016 19:00:37 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=412993It can be said almost without question that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (known going forward in this article as “The Rock” or “Rocky”) is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, as well as an affable, kind person. People love him for so many different reasons, whether it’s his godlike presence on the big screen…

It’s safe to say that The Rock is definitely “one of the good guys.” He has earned the cheers and adoration he gets from his fans. That’s what makes his story so fascinating. For Rocky to achieve this massive success as a hero, he first had to live through being one of the most HATED characters on television. Let’s take a look at the history of “The Great One.”

Rocky Maivia

During the fall of 1996, the WWE was starting to transition from the less cartoon-like characters and the straightforward “good guy vs. bad guy” story lines. Wrestlers like the “All-American Hero” Hulk Hogan were replaced with superstars like Stone Cold Steve Austin, who swore up a storm and whose favorite hobby was beating up his own boss.

This “Attitude Era” had no room for goody two shoes. That’s why it was a little confusing when Rocky Maivia made his debut during the WWE’s November Pay-Per-View event, The Survivor Series. His character, whose name is an amalgam of his father (Rocky Johnson) and grandfather (High Chief Peter Maivia), was a legacy superstar “babyface” (wrestling talk for good guy) that wanted to make it on his own merits; this was the complete opposite of the direction the WWE was moving in. Here is an interview Rocky had six days before his debut:

Notice how quiet and monotone Rocky looks and sounds. Now, add some wrestling trunks and you have a character that, while having the wrestling skills, did not fit into the world of the WWE at the time. For almost a full year, Rocky Maivia came out with a smile on his face and always tried to do the right thing. His reward? Chants of “Die Rocky Die” and “Rocky Sucks.” All the while, the crowd would go insane with cheers every time Stone Cold Steve Austin stood up and gave them the finger.

The world of wrestling is exactly similar to comic books, video games, and movies. Fans go into to each of these with the understanding that it requires a certain suspension of disbelief.

While fans are willing to suspend some of their belief, the successful wrestlers, comics, video games, and movies anchor the fantasy world to reality with strong believable characters. There is a wrestler called the Undertaker who has been portraying the character of a dead man for 26 years, and the fans still can’t get enough.

This was because of the Undertaker’s total commitment to his character. The fans believe in this “Phenom” because they feel they are actually watching a real-life supernatural creature enter the wrestling ring. The Undertaker committed so much that, for years, he always hid from the public. After all, if the man were supposed to be from beyond the grave, why would he be shopping for soda at Kroeger’s? Over time, that awe from the fans turned into respect, and the Undertaker was able to evolve because of it. Rather than being a larger than life superhero, he became an unstoppable human.

Rocky Maivia was not only a character the fans didn’t believe in, but he was one Dwayne Johnson didn’t believe in. There was no opportunity for the Rock to show his actual personality with the Rocky Maivia character. Imagine if the young kid in that interview had the same charisma as the man from the Conan interview. Things probably would have gone a little different. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how big the smile, the fans wanted his head on a stake. A knee injury in mid 1997 put Rocky on the shelf for a few months. When he returned, everything changed.

The Rock

When Rocky returned from his knee injury, he became the villain the fans basically drove him to be. Instead of trying to fight through the boos, he embraced them and became “The Rock.” Only referring to himself in the third person, The Rock was a brash and arrogant “heel” (bad guy) that did nothing but badmouth his opponents and badmouth the crowd that had already hated him for so long. From fall of 1997 to fall of 1998, the Rock was the man everyone loved to hate. He even began referring to himself as the “People’s Champion” to get underneath people’s skin.

The Fall of 1998 was when things started to change. To draw a parallel: When asked who their favorite Marvel character is, there is a good portion of people who will say Loki, because he’s funny, smart, and witty. Tom Hiddleston’s charisma as the God of Mischief turned him from the villain in Thor and Avengers into one of the heroes in Thor: The Dark World. The same thing happened to the Rock. Between his hilarious promos to his catchphrases to his raising of that infamous eyebrow, people finally saw the character that they could believe in, who they could suspend disbelief for. And they ate it up like Ben and Jerry’s. You could also see it in The Rock himself. You could tell that he believed in this character and that he was putting himself into it 100%. Listen to the crowd reaction to this interview with a heel like the Rock, and see how much the crowd loved a man they were supposed to hate:

Dwayne Johnson

One month after this interview, in the spring of 1999, the Rock became a good guy again, though all the while maintaining this brash persona. The fans have never stopped cheering since. He went on the following year to his first of four SNL hosting stints, being asked again and again due to his amazing timing and comedic chops. By 2002, he had his first starring role in The Scorpion King. In 2004, he left wrestling full time for Hollywood, and for a while, he didn’t look back. He became an action star in movies like Walking Tall and showed his comedic chops in films like The Game Plan. His stock grew and grew. Since his starring role in Fast Five, he has become one of the main reasons the Fast and the Furious franchise is what it is today. He will continue to show that action hero/comedian balance with the release of this week’s Central Intelligence, co-starring Kevin Hart.

While wrestling and non-wrestling fans were loving him in Hollywood, people still missed him in the ring. Even seven years after leaving, the Rock never forgot where he came from, returning in 2011 to this ovation:

He would go on to wrestle in the main event of the WWE’s Super Bowl, Wrestlemania, for two straight years, and still makes appearances to the delight of fans everywhere.

In 2008’s The Dark Knight, Harvey Dent says “You either die the hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” The Rock was able to change that up a bit. Same train, just different car. To become the hero everyone loves, he had to embrace the villain everyone wanted him to be, if you catch my drift… or should I say, if you smell what the Rock is cooking.

So what do you th—IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK! … But if you still want to talk about your favorite Rock moment, let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

Featured Image: Universal Pictures

]]>TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES Are OUT OF THE SHADOWS and Into an Awesome Sequel (Review)http://nerdist.com/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-are-out-of-the-shadows-and-into-an-awesome-sequel/
Thu, 02 Jun 2016 11:30:34 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=407726Rare is the sequel that improves substantially upon its predecessor; rarer still is a genuinely great sequel to a movie that wasn’t very good at all. Though it was a financial success, tied as it was to a cash-cow brand that has never really gone away, 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sought to reinvent the property without apparently understanding what the appeal was in the first place. The redesigned turtles looked creepy, and Michelangelo’s cross-species crush on Megan Fox was even creepier; meanwhile, the obvious last-minute rewrites to correct a controversial “white-wash” of arch-villain Shredder (who was to be played by William Fichtner, until he wasn’t) made the plot feel confused and disjointed. That guru-rat Master Splinter learned ninjutsu from a book he found in the sewer was just one of many silly additions that could have been corrected with a decent edit.

The redesigned Turtles still look weird, but director Dave Green (Earth to Echo) has spun nostalgic gold from cinematic straw, like a Rumpelstiltskin of childhood restored. These are the Turtles you’ve been looking for; as with G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the franchise has course-corrected back to where it should have just began in the first place. When brain-alien Krang appears following the movie’s first big action set piece, and begins loudly and dramatically proclaiming to Shredder that he plans to tear open a rift between dimensions and rule the world—and making his robot body punch himself in the face in order to squeeze him back inside the metal stomach cavity—the movie offers this up unapologetically, and it’s the right call. Though some versions of the Turtles over the years have been grittier than others, they were always intended to have a healthy dose of weirdness and parody, and making things too “realistic” misses the point. The very notion of teenage mutant ninja turtles is absurd, and nobody telling stories about them should be in any way embarrassed about that fact.

Out of the Shadows also functions as a loose remake of the original movie sequel, The Secret of the Ooze, which hinged on the creation of two new evil mutants that could not at the time legally be called Bebop and Rocksteady. Now the contracts are all straightened out and the goofy baddies can wield their proper names. As played by Gary Anthony Williams (Uncle Ruckus on The Boondocks) and Stephen Farrelly (WWE‘s Sheamus), they’re a highlight, both as aggressively stupid humans and post-mutation animals. When Farrelly loudly proclaims, in his Irish accent, that he’s Finnish, he does so with such dunderheaded conviction that it’s up there with the best of Beavis and Butt-head. Meanwhile, as mad scientist Baxter Stockman, Tyler Perry mainly just acts like a dork as broadly as possible, but he’ll presumably have more to do in the next movie.

While the main plot features Shredder escaping prison, acquiring new technology, and forming an alliance with Krang to conquer the world, those Turtle boys are having their own issues: mainly, that they have to stay hidden and working in the shadows while blowhard ex-cameraman Vernon (Will Arnett) takes all the credit for their heroics from the prior film. Offered a potential anti-mutagen that could turn them human, the gang divides on how to proceed, with Raphael and Mikey taking the emotional point of view (rooted in their feelings that they’d like to not be seen as monsters) and Leo and Don taking a more pragmatic approach. The intra-reptile drama adds just the right amount of complication—any more and the story might get too crowded from all the characters (we haven’t even mentioned Casey Jones yet!). Any less and it would feel like nobody cared about plot much.

But while the drama may threaten to tear the team apart, the dialogue and easy banter of the actors feels true to the material in the best way. Raphael is cool but rude! Donatello does do machines! Et cetera. Forgotten the theme song lyrics? Don’t worry. There’s a modern cover version over the end credits to remind you, with a healthy dose of “Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!” sprinkled in. Yes, this time around the small details are actually smart, from familiar cartoon Turtle art on April O’Neil’s hologram watch to ninja stars encircling the Paramount logo at the beginning of the film. It’s quickly apparent, unlike last time, that you are watching a movie made by and for fans. Sure, Stephen Amell‘s Casey Jones feels so childlike as to almost come off idiotic, and Megan Fox is no master thespian. Yet none of that matters—the Turtles themselves (Noel Fisher, Alan Ritchson, Jeremy Howard, and Pete Ploszek) are great, and the action sequences are both funny and exciting, particularly an extended skydive-turned-river-chase through Brazil. Heck, Ploszek wasn’t even overdubbed by Johnny Knoxville this time as Leonardo, yet he sounds exactly like him.

To quote Stephen Farrelly from his day job: this movie just brogue-kicked me arse, fella. I can’t quite give it a perfect score, because those nostrils on the Turtles just still make me a little uncomfortable, but 4.5 burritos out of 5 ain’t bad. Cowabunga.

Images: Paramount

Luke Y. Thompson is weekend editor at Nerdist, a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and other fun stuff. Plus he has a Twitter.

]]>Daniel Radcliffe Shared a Photo of HARRY POTTER and Neville Before 1st Movie Filmedhttp://nerdist.com/daniel-radcliffe-shared-a-photo-of-harry-potter-and-neville-before-1st-movie-filmed/
Sun, 27 Mar 2016 14:00:37 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=384190How do you prepare when you have just been cast in a role that will see a classic war waged between the forces of good and evil–an epic battle that will be played out for all the world to see? You go to a wrestling show obviously.

Daniel Radcliffe shared an old photo of a very young Matthew Lewis, who you might know better as Neville Longbottom, and himself at a WWF show (the old moniker for the WWE) in England from 2001, two days before they started filming the first Harry Potter movie. Radcliffe says that they were brought there by one of the movie’s producers, David Heyman, and the only bummer about this picture is that Rupert Grint who was also there with them isn’t in it too. (He was probably at the concession stand getting another snack.)

…..I feel very old right now.

As for what’s actually happening in the picture, he pointed out how everyone else seems to be jeering the entrance of William Regal, but that they “weren’t quite brave enough to boo him.” Well, considering William Regal is English that would have been rude anyway, but even if William Regal was playing a bad guy at the time (known as a “heel” in wrestling lingo), he is totally awesome. So in spite of Radcliffe’s lime green zip-top, looking back on it now they are the coolest people in the photo.

(Because I know at least a couple of you are wondering, Regal lost that night to Chris Jericho.)

Not only did Radcliffe share a cool throwback picture with his fans, he stayed loyal to House Gryffindor and promoted Lewis’s second season of Happy Valley on Netflix. For both the photo and encouraging people to watch his friend’s show we award 50 points to House Gryffindor.

For the lime green top we deduct 10.

Have any other photos of a young Harry Potter cast out there you like? Share them with us too, right here in the comments section below.

]]>Stephen Amell’s “Anti-Bromance” with WWE’s Stardust Continues, for Charityhttp://nerdist.com/stephen-amells-anti-bromance-with-wwes-stardust-continues-for-charity/
Thu, 28 Jan 2016 16:30:40 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=360324To coin a phrase from the erstwhile Cody Rhodes’ brother Dustin, Stephen Amell just can’t ever forget the name of…ffffffffffffffffff…Stardussssst! Their social media rivalry, which turned into an actual in-ring wrestling rivalry last SummerSlam, is starting to look more and more like a bromance. The two recently teamed up to design a custom T-shirt for cancer-stricken youngster Elijah Mainville (who also goes by the name “Drax Shadow”), and now Amell has challenged the lord of the Cosmic Wasteland again…to return the Slammy Award he stole from the Arrow star.

Shockingly, he’s promising not to punch his nemesis. Though we should point out he says nothing about abstaining from archery.

And to think, I remember the days when Star Trek fans and wrestling fans were mutually exclusive groups. Now it’s just presumed everyone will get all the references. Ain’t this nerdtopia grand?

We don’t yet know the venue—one might presume WrestleMania, except that if Amell is doing the choosing, it might be somewhere more Starling City-like. But we can say that readers with deep pockets and a fondness for good causes will soon enough have the chance to score a trophy that has been in the possession of both men… and, unlike most wrestling trophies, that still remains unbroken over anybody’s head.

Also, this is the first wrestling storyline in a long time that has really made us want to believe. It’s so much more fun than imagining an unpainted Cody Rhodes just making a phone call and going, “Hey man, whaddaya say we auction this thing?”

In fact, the only way to properly respond is this:

How would you like to see Stephen Amell and Stardust settle their score? We have some thoughts, but we’d like to hear yours. Beam down to comments and tell us what they might be.

]]>WWE 2K16 Preview: Old Habits Die Hardhttp://nerdist.com/wwe-2k16-preview-old-habits-die-hard/
Thu, 10 Sep 2015 18:30:29 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=301709In late August, on the evening before Stephen Amell and Neville went toe to toe with Stardust and King Barrett, I ventured out to New York City for the epic Summerslam Kickoff event, sponsored by 2K Games. There was free food, drinks, WWE superstars on hand for interviews, and a sweet-ass performance by rapper Fabolous. But the main reason I was there was to get hands-on time with WWE 2K16. The event itself was well put together, packed with the 2K PR and development teams, who are always a pleasure and very accommodating, and many of my wonderful colleagues, who are always loads of fun. WWE 2K16 itself, however, paled in comparison, and this has me deeply concerned about the final build that’s set to hit stores this October.

My hope is that if anyone from the 2K16 team happens to come across this, they understand that this is coming from a huge fan of wrestling games. WWF: No Mercy, Smackdown II: Know Your Role (my Kurt Angle was ridiculous), Smackdown vs. Raw — the hours I logged across all of these games would put this genre as one of my top three most played. You’re dealing with someone who knows wrestling games, understands their meta, and can appreciate one that is well made. As of now, the series has lost its way from a gameplay standpoint, and I pray to see it return to its previous state of immense fun. So, with that said, how is 2K16 stacking up thus far?

What’s new and what’s old in WWE 2K16

WWE 2K16 boasts the largest roster in any wrestling game to date. With 120 different characters set to be available at launch, players will be able to take control of everyone from new superstars like Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, to veterans like Stone Cold Steve Austin, and even oddities like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 Terminator (weird, I know). There’s a robust roster of wrestlers here, and there’s a good chance you’ll have access to one of your favorites right out of the box–provided that your favorite isn’t anyone who has parted ways with the company due to legal issues. This is to say nothing of the imminent DLC and created characters that are sure to be thrown into the mix down the road.

Everything else feature-wise gets fuzzy from here on out because a lot of elements that have been in the series previously, but were mysteriously absent in last year’s game, are making a return. The Creative Suite is back, allowing players to create a wrestler, Diva, arena, PPV event, or championship belt. Tornado tag team, ladder tag team, and handicap tag team matches are all making a return to the series as well. They even upped the ante with the MyCareer mode and fixed the WWE Universe feature so that it allows superstars to be booked for more than one show.

Mechanically, there are a few new things that I noticed right off the bat. Pinning an opponent now brings up a Madden kickoff-like mini-game that prompts the downed player to land a cursor in an indicated area in order to kick out of being pinned. There’s also a brand new submission system, which operates similar to that of EA Sports UFC, tasking the submitting opponent to place their cursor over their victim’s in order to apply more pressure to the hold. These were both seamless and welcome additions to the game, though I definitely still miss the “mashing out” tactics of the old days.

The new 2K Showcase mode allows you to relive some of the greatest moments in the federation’s history. The highlight of this feature is the mere fact that the original audio from these historical moments has been retained and intertwined with the gameplay–this also includes some of the best wrestling promos of all time. Remember this?

This should proven to be a crucial factor in increasing the presentation value of the final game. But, as things stand, this may come at the expense of decent gameplay, which is what we’ll get into next.

When keeping it real goes wrong

My main takeaway from my hands-on time with WWE 2K16 was that most of the resources and focus seemed to be catered to its presentation, rather than its gameplay. There’s nothing but beauty to behold when checking out 2K16‘s visuals; the little nuances like blood staining the wrestling ring and the accuracy of wrestler entrances are very pleasing to the eye. However, the controls were clunky and unresponsive, a problem that has been rampant in the last several iterations of the game. The fluidity that I enjoyed from the wrestling games of old never seemed so far removed. Everything from executing suplexes to something as simple as climbing the turnbuckle looked a million times better than they actually felt.

The chain wrestling system from WWE 2K15 seemed to be a step in the proper direction, but was hindered by this exact same thing — overproduction in other areas of the game. Perhaps this is why some of the same issues from 2K15 were back in full effect in the preview build of this game. There were claims from the developer that the referee A.I. was improved, but from my hands-on time, the referee was constantly in the way and obstructing the flow of gameplay. Waiting for animations to slowly pan out and watching wrestlers slide into place to perform a move were just a couple of other instances where gameplay was hampered by the game attempting to look stylish and realistic.

Unfortunately, the realism was broken by issues like the game’s less-than-stellar collision detection. Having a running drop kick land on an opponent who’s standing several feet away took me completely out of the game–even more so than the clunky and unresponsive controls. While this was a preview build of the game, I must reiterate that these were issues I experienced with WWE 2K15 as well, and for that reason, my optimism is slightly diminished. This is a game that’s striving to be a simulation of sorts — and that’s fine — but I’m not sure that folks who want to play a complex grappler like the wrestling titles of old are going to dig this style of gameplay.

Holding onto hope

I’m not sure what exactly Yukes and Visual Concept’s vision is for the WWE game series. To be frank, I’m perplexed. I don’t understand how this series has continued to make the same mistakes for so many consecutive years. Maybe it’s the pressure of delivering an annualized game, or perhaps it’s the pressure of living up to the prestige of its predecessors. Whatever it is, as it stands, 2K needs to make a major change on this series sooner rather than later. Or let’s just hope that the final build of WWE 2K16 is immensely better than what I tried in New York and that I’m eating my words come October 27.

—

Malik Forté is the gaming editor of Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter (@Malik4Play)

]]>It Looks Like WWE May Not Be Done with Stephen Amellhttp://nerdist.com/it-looks-like-wwe-may-not-be-done-with-stephen-amell/
Fri, 28 Aug 2015 21:00:50 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=297805WWE’sSummerSlam Pay-Per-View was quite the talk of the town on Monday. Memorable moments abounded — Jon Stewart attacked John Cena with a chair during his match! And this wasn’t the only outsider to step into the WWE ring on Sunday, however, as Stephen Amell, the star of The CW’sArrow, finally got his tag-team match against The Prince of Dark Matter, Stardust.

Amell and Neville won the match, which included some surprisingly competent moves from Amell, like his top-rope body block out of the ring on Stardust and King Barrett.

Many wondered if this match would be the end of the crossover feud, but it seems that the fight isn’t over. It wasn’t long before the Twitter war between Amell and Stardust started up again, and now it seems Stardust wants to prove he can take Amell down in a one-on-one match. It also seems Stephen is more than happy to oblige.

it is one thing getting LUCKY in having a formidable yet toady partner
. . .

So, as of now it looks like these two are willing to take this rivalry to another Pay-Per-View, and finish it face-to-face. The next Pay-Per-View in this year’s lineup is Night of Champions, but my hope is the rivalry will simmer until October and Amell will get to face Stardust for a main card match at Hell In A Cell. Yes, I want them to end this feud in a 20-foot cell. Sadly, with WWE’s PG swing these days, and Amell’s amateur status, that may only be a dream.

What do you think? Is Amell’s continued participation enough to have you returning to the WWE for more, or is it getting old already? Let us know in the comments below!

]]>TV-Cap: Stephen Amell Visits SUMMERSLAM, Teasers for AMERICAN HORROR STORY: HOTEL, & Morehttp://nerdist.com/tv-cap-stephen-amell-visits-summerslam-teasers-for-american-horror-story-hotel-more/
Mon, 24 Aug 2015 17:30:52 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=295397We live in a world where Oliver Queen visited WWE’s SummerSlam. And he didn’t just visit, he jumped into the ring. Allow that to fully sink in. It’s glorious. Keep reading to learn more about Arrow vs. Stardust, to see teasers for American Horror Story: Hotel, to watch a new Joker-centric Gotham promo, and more.

It Comes to This. What started with tweets has ended in a brawl. The months-long debate between Stephen Amell (Arrow) and Stardust ended last night–maybe–at WWE’s SummerSlam. Amell came dressed in some of his Arrow gear (because why wouldn’t you) and teamed with Neville to fight Stardust and King Barrett. Given that I don’t watch wrestling, I don’t recognize the names, but you don’t have to in order to appreciate an entertaining fight. Watch them duke it out at WWE.

Adventurous Spinoff. I’d argue that Adrianne Palicki’s and Nick Blood’s Bobbie Morse and Lance Hunter are two of the best parts about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and as such, ABC wasn’t sure if they wanted to spinoff them off into their own series. However, they’ve warmed back up to the idea and have officially given a pilot order to Marvel’s Most Wanted. It would focus on Mockingbird and Hunter’s adventures, and I’m sort of already on board. [Nerdist]

Zombies Are Back. There are some phrases you never expect or hope to hear in life, and “boy-band zombie” is one of them. But it’s happening thanks to Syfy. The zombie western titled Dead 7 stars Backstreet Boys’s Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, and A.J. McLean and also NSYNC’s Joey Fatone. And hey, Carrie Keagan has just been cast as the female lead. [Deadline]

What Could Have Been. Remember the Ghostbusters cartoon? The animated adventures of Venkmen, Spengler, Zeddemore, and Stantz stuck relatively close to the portrayals in the live-action films, but it might not have been that way. The unaired promo pilot paints a different picture. [Nerdist]

Laugh It Up. Fox is taking way too much enjoyment in playing up the Joker teases for Season 2 of Gotham. They haven’t officially confirmed that Cameron Monaghan’s character Jerome is The Joker, but they have done everything short of confirming it. The latest teaser puts all the emphasis on Jerome’s maniacal laugh. [IGN]

In the Precinct. On the other side of the coin in Gotham, we have Michael Chiklis taking control of the Gotham City Police Department. He’s playing Captain Nathaniel Barnes and will make his first appearance in the second episode of Season 2. Entertainment Weekly shared the first look at his character in action and taking charge. [/Film]

Developments. The landscape of Sleepy Hollow continues to change for Season 3, and if you don’t want to know any spoilers about which characters will be around more frequently, stop reading now. Two familiar faces will return as series regulars: Lance Gross’s FBI special agent Daniel Reynolds and Zach Appelman’s Joe Corbin. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Clone Reunion. New York Comic Con (NYCC) will bring two new episodes of Season 2 of Star Wars Rebels. The premiere aired in June, and the next two episodes will debut at NYCC on October 8. They’re big ones because they feature the return of some beloved clone troopers we got to know in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, including Captain Rex. [Nerdist]

A Quest. NBC’s return to the world of Heroes is only a month away. The limited event series Heroes Reborn will premiere on September 24, and though there are a number of characters from the original show returning, there are plenty of new faces. The latest teaser highlights Mohinder Suresh and a quest. [Comic Book Resources]

Never Checking In.American Horror Story: Hotel will open for business on October 7, and it’s looking like the sort of place I want to avoid at all costs. Two new teasers set the mood and crawl right under my skin. [Nerdist]

Preach. If you’re having a rough Monday, take a moment to remember that AMC is developing an adaptation of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Preacher starring Dominic Cooper. Yes, that is pretty awesome. Photos from the set in New Mexico are trickling out here and there, and the site Comicus has images showing Joseph Gilgun as Cassidy and Ian Colletti as Arseface—you can check them out right this way. [Comic Book Resources]

Are you excited about the idea for the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff? Let me know in the comments.

]]>Same Chair, New Ass: Latest Promo for THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAHhttp://nerdist.com/same-chair-new-ass-latest-promo-for-the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah/
Tue, 18 Aug 2015 21:00:27 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=292739Comedy Central knows not just any ass can fill Jon Stewart’s chair as host of The Daily Show, which is why their latest promo wants to assure you that new host Trevor Noah has just the derriere to do it.

The promo features a confident Noah striding out in a sharp suit to Kayne West’s “Power” before boldly stating, “Same Chair.” That is followed by a long, tight shot of Noah’s behind slowly and comfortably coming to rest in the host’s chair, with the proclamation, “New Ass.” Astute observers might also notice that the show seems to premiere the new logo near the video’s end.

The South African-born Noah first appeared on The Daily Show in 2014 as a contributor, but was named Jon Stewart’s replacement in March after following Stewart’s announcement he would be leaving the show. Here’s Noah’s first appearance from last December.

This promo isn’t the first one to center around Noah’s relationship with his new chair, but it is the first one to prominently feature his behind. (Slightly NSFW.)

Noah will debut as host September 28, and Comedy Central seems to be promoting the idea that although Stewart might be gone, the role of the show in the political discourse isn’t going to change.

As for Stewart, it was announced this week that he has already lined up his next gig, as he will host’s the WWE’sSummerslam on Sunday, August 23rd. Stewart is a big wrestling fan that has appeared on WWE programming before.

What do you expect from Trevor Noah as he settles into the big chair? What changes do you hope to see? What do you hope remains the same? Tell us in the comments section below.

]]>Jon Stewart Will Co-host SUMMERSLAMhttp://nerdist.com/jon-stewart-will-co-host-summerslam/
Tue, 18 Aug 2015 19:30:40 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=292707While the internet seems to have lost its minds over the announcement that Stephen Amell will be wrestling at WWE’sSummerSlam against Stardust, there was another cross-promotion rivalry the WWE took part in this year that gained a lot of attention. That would be the rivalry between Seth Rollins and the former host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart.

USA Today has reported that Jon will be returning to WWE for SummerSlam. Sadly, he will not be reigniting his rivalry with a match against Seth Rollins, like Amell, but instead will be guest hosting the gig. The Pay-Per-View event, which will be filming at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn this Sunday, will be Stewart’s first gig after his finale on The Daily Show, and will most likely be a big draw for the WWE Network streaming service.

In case you do not recall Stewart’s past with WWE, Seth Rollins offered up his services to replace Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show back in February. This started a war of words between the two that went from the Internet onto the set of The Daily Show, and even into the ring of Monday Night Raw. It was there that, with some help of Randy Orton, Jon got the drop on Rollins.

It wasn’t long after this appearance that the rivalry sort of faded away, as Randy Orton’s return took precedence and became a bigger threat to Rollins. We will just have to see if Jon coming back to WWE goes as well as he hopes. Rollins is not one to let a kick to the crotch go unanswered.

SummerSlam will air this Sunday, August 23 at 7pm EST on Pay-Per-View and through the WWE Network service. Let us know in the comments below if you plan to watch, and what match you are looking forward to most.

]]>ARROW’s Stephen Amell to Wrestle at WWE’s SUMMERSLAMhttp://nerdist.com/arrows-stephen-amell-to-wrestle-at-wwes-summerslam/
Wed, 12 Aug 2015 02:30:53 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=289593After three months of social media battles and several on-camera appearances, the feud between Arrow star Stephen Amell and WWE wrestler Stardust is finally coming to a head.

Back in May, this long tale started when Amell was ringside at WWE’s Monday Night Raw at Nassau Coliseum, where Stardust hassled him before his match against fellow WWE wrestler Neville. Stardust lost, and seemed to blame Amell for it, despite his lack of doing anything. As the story progressed it seemed that Stardust was convinced that Amell was not just an actor who plays Green Arrow on TV, but actually Green Arrow himself. Stardust was convinced he was meant to be the greatest of super villains and needed an arch nemesis to make that come true. This would result in a social media war between the two that would last over two months.

Meanwhile, Stardust would continue an in-ring rivalry with the high-flyer Neville, aiming to make him the hero to Stardust’s super villain persona. Both rivalries intensified last night, when Amell was a special guest for Monday Night Raw.

Amell chose to take a ringside seat for Neville’s match against Bad News Barrett last night, and…well…take a look:

Later in the night, Amell was approached backstage by WWE’s COO Triple H to be scolded for his actions, but instead, with the help of Neville, persuaded him to let them take a shot at Stardust and Barrett in a tag team match at Summerslam. The deal was set, the match was made, and Arrow is heading to Pay-Per-View.

The story is a fun bit of cross-promotion between both CW’s Arrow and The WWE, but sadly in the age of social media and constant insight, a lot of people already knew about this development. Amell himself tried to mislead fans back in May after the first confrontation with Stardust, but apparently someone had let the cat out of the bag a bit early.

Lots of rumors circulating that I’m fighting @StardustWWE at Summerslam. Not true. Cody wants no piece of me.

It also must be a real dream come true for Amell, who has been a huge WWE fan since his childhood. It’s neat to see what becoming a television and comic book sensation can do for you. Here’s to hoping Amell takes the full dive and not only wrestles well, but wrestles in full Arrow garb.

Planning to check out this match on PPV? Let us know in the comments below.

]]>WWE’s Edge Is Atom Smasher on THE FLASHhttp://nerdist.com/wwes-edge-is-atom-smasher-on-the-flash/
Fri, 17 Jul 2015 19:30:10 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=279191The Flash has his first supervillain lined up for season 2, and the actor behind the role should be a familiar face for wrestling fans.

Former WWE Superstar Adam Copeland a.k.a. Edge will portray Atom Smasher in the second season premiere of The Flash. The DC Universe incarnation of Atom Smasher (whose real name is Al Rothstein) was a hero and a member of the Justice Society of America, but his live-action counterpart on The Flash is decidedly unheroic.

The CW describes Atom Smasher as “”One of the most powerful enemies we encounter this season, [he] has come to Central City to kill The Flash. His incredible strength and ability to grow to enormous size makes him more than a match for Flash and the entire S.T.A.R. Labs team will have to come together to find a way to defeat him.”

Given the fact that The Flash Season 2 will be introducing Teddy Sears as the original Flash, Jay Garrick; it’s entirely possible that Atom Smasher will also be from an alternate Earth.

As Edge, Copeland was one of the most popular wrestlers on WWE’s roster before he retired due to injuries in 2011. Copeland has a recurring role on Syfy’s Haven as Dwight Hendrickson, and he has also appeared in Highlander: Endgame, Sanctuary, and Bending the Rules.

Earlier this week, The Flash creative team also lined up genre veteran Michael Ironside to play the father of Captain Cold in the third episode of the second season. The Comic-Con teaser video for The Flash also hinted that Zoom will make his debut on the series, which means that another major villain may be cast in the near future.

The Flash returns to The CW on Tuesday, October 6.

Flash fans, do you want to see Copeland stick around as new recurring villain on the show? Share your opinions in the comment section below!

]]>The Wrestling Compadres Slamcast #56: Harlem Heat Reunited!http://nerdist.com/the-wrestling-compadres-slamcast-56-harlem-heat-reunited/
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 04:30:02 +0000http://www.nerdist.com/?post_type=pepisode&p=226804Booker T and Stevie Ray give a rare interview together as they head back into the squared circle for one final match at this weekend’s Reality Of Wrestling iPPV. The Compadres also give their thoughts on NXT Rivals, Impact, Lucha Underground, & WWE Fastlane predictions!
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